NEW YORK (Press Release) –The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Tuesday, March 11, praised Norwegian Cruise Line for its “courageous and responsible” decision to cancel all port calls to Tunisia following the Tunisian government’s refusal to allow Israeli passport holders to disembark from the Norwegian Jade cruise ship.
“We applaud the courageous and responsible decision of Norwegian Cruise Line in standing up to the discriminatory policy of the Tunisian government,” said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. “They have sent a clear message to Tunisia and other governments that discriminatory practices against Israelis and other nationals will have a negative impact on tourism.”
ADL wrote yesterday to Kevin Sheehan, Norwegian Cruise Line’s CEO, expressing concern over complaints from passengers aboard the Norwegian Jade. Israeli nationals onboard the 21-day Mediterranean cruise were informed they would be barred from disembarking just before the ship’s scheduled stop in Tunis on March 9. According to a Norwegian Cruise Line statement issued earlier today, the company was not informed of the new Tunisian policy in advance. The statement made clear that Norwegian Cruise Line “…will not tolerate such random acts of discrimination against our guests,” and indicated the company “has cancelled all remaining calls to Tunisia and will not return.”
In its letter, ADL expressed concern that passengers on the 21-day cruise of the eastern and western Mediterranean were denied entry in Tunis. The League called on Norwegian to make clear to the Tunisian Government that the cruise line would eliminate the port from the itineraries of the Mediterranean cruises if Israeli-passport-holding passengers would be barred from disembarking.
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Preceding provided by the Anti-Defamation League.
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Cantor Sheldon Merel wrote to us: “From a friend re the Tunisian ship incident: Regarding the NCL cruise ship in Tunis, I have a good friend who is a travel agent and happens to be Jewish. He believes there was a security issue with Israelis leaving the ship and the government there was trying to avoid any possibility of an incident. In the meantime it seems that a lot of the merchants there are very unhappy—–they are losing business if the ships discontinue that port of call and cruise ship passengers spend a lot in port.”
Did the company advise/remind the passengers that they might need visa for Tunisia? It seems it was no discrimination but just normal procedure by law. Did the captain locally try anything with the Tunisian authorities in order to get them a valid exceptional visa?